The get-rich-quick ‘brain behind Saradha’

Saradha chief Sudipta Sen had mentioned Das in his first letter to the CBI in April 2013, describing him as the man who convinced him to invest in the money market. “In June 2008, my two drivers namely Ratan and Dipu came to my 64 Shakespeare Sarani office, and intoduced a man called Shib Narayan Das. Das had come in a Bolero and identified himself as a money market developer.” Das, Sen’s letter added, “introduced himself as a person who knows the basic chemistry of the money market”.

From running a telephone booth, Das had already risen to “team leader” of agents of a series of chit fund companies before he went to Sen. He reportedly took with him seven or eight people from several chit fund companies; CBI sources say Das has admitted that he helped Sen build his chit fund network.

Debjani Mukherjee, Saradha executive director, has given the CBI a statement that she had heard of Das from Sen, and that the money market business was Das’s idea. It was when she joined Saradha that Das left and formed his own company, the Silicon Group. He launched a Bengali newspaper, Bhorer Barta, with a pro-government stand.

Silicon too entered the money market, floating schemes to collect deposits for three to five years and “allotting land” to investors. Its website says it has offices in Tamluk and Contai in East Midnapore , Bankura, Bagnan in Howrah, West Midnapore, Mathabhanga in Coochbehar, Raghunathpur and Behampur in Murshidabad, as well as in Assam and Orissa.

Das had been on the run for several months before the CBI caught up with him at Ramrajatala, Howrah. He had cropped his hair and gone clean-shaven. He has reportedly told cops about his links with Trinamool leaders. One minister he used to be photographed with was Arup Roy. When contacted, Roy conceded that he had attended some of Das’s programmes but said he did not know what exactly his businesses were.

Cops seized an imported, self-loading revolver from Das; it was loaded. The CBI is yet to slap charges under the Arms Act; Das has apparently said he has a licence but hasn’t yet shown the papers. He has been charged with fraud, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust, and will be produced in court on

His signature lingers on his company’s website. “If you wish to help the nation to grow richer and stronger by all means do join us to make the dreams of our people come true so that we all get a better chance in life to progress easily and steadily. Thank You. — Shib Narayan Das”